THE SHADDOX BOYS

Jacob and Elijah Shaddox are brothers. Jacob is 21 years old and just moved into an apartment with his girlfriend. He graduated from a technical college with an Associate's degree in Computer Maintenance. He works for a school district as a computer technician. Elijah is almost 18 years old. He is hearing impaired, has Tourette Syndrome, OCD and ADHD. He is a junior in high school. Elijah lives with his mom Mary and her wife, his stepmom. Mary has a bachelor's in deaf education and a masters in special education, and is an educational diagnostician. Life is always changing and this blog has chronicled many of these changes and will continue to do so!






Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Counting the Days

Well we are counting the days until Summer break! I think I am as ready as the boys. Jacob has refereed several soccer games and his savings account is growing. I also signed him up for a driver's education class this summer. He should be out of his braces soon too!!! He has his state testing this week and will be glad when it is over. Elijah is busy at school too. His behavior has been fairly good. He has about one "off" day a week which is a big improvement. He has testing this week too. He seems to be having a few more tics, but nothing too serious so far!

We are not planning much for this summer. We went to a family wedding back on the 14th of this month and drove 11 hours to Alabama. I saw just about all of my family on my mother's side and some family that I have not seen in YEARS! It was a lot of fun and the boys enjoyed it.  We got to east some Krispy Kreme donuts too! My partner enjoyed meeting my family too! I have a three day workshop in June that is only about 30 minutes from the house, so that won't be too bad. I then travel to Houston in July for a three day conference for Teachers of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. It is a statewide conference and I will be presenting!!! I am excited, but nervous. I will be presenting at our regional service center next week.

Overall, things are going well and we have no complaints. My mystery shopping keeps me busy too! I am hoping to pay down some of my debt!!!(crossing fingers)

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

More Puke, Poison Ivy, Doctor Visits and Mystery Shopping

Wow! What a title, but what a 24 hours it has been. This time last night, all was well in the world. Elijah had a great day at school and we had some great leftovers for dinner. I did notice I had a rash on one of my arms, and decided it must be poison Ivy from the yard work I did. I put medicine on it and hoped it would improve. My partner made it home from a late night working and we went to bed around 10:00.

My partner wakes me up around 2:45 in the morning saying, "I think Jacob is throwing up in the other bathroom." I get out of bed and sure enough, he is in there puking. He finished up, washed out his mouth and went to bed. I told him he would be staying home from school and he actually tried to argue with me that he NEEDED to go. NOW this is a turn around! Well, I won this argument and we went to bed, or so I thought. Forty-five minutes later I am up again with him puking, but there is NOTHING more to puke up so he is puking up bile and having a really HARD time. He even let me wipe him down on his face and neck with a wet wash clothe. We again went back to bed and 45 minutes later, I was up again with him. Needless to say, this kept going on and on. I decided to stay home and get him into a doctor.

I make it up around 6:30 and get Elijah off to school on the bus at 7:40. I called the clinic in town and got an 8:30 appointment for Jacob and one for me for my poison Ivy. The rash had spread and was also on my other arm. In the past, when I get poison Ivy, I don't usually have much luck with over the counter meds. I let my partner sleep, because she had to work later.

We went in and poor Jacob threw up in the trash can in the waiting room, but BOY did they get us into a back room quick. We then saw the doctor. He got a shot for nausea and I got a steroid shot. He also got a prescription for nausea and I got one for my rash so I won't itch it.

We come home and Jacob just goes right to sleep. The puking stops and he is able to hold down some liquids. I leave around 11:00 to get our meds and conduct one mystery shop in town and get a free lunch. I then come home and check on him and leave to get Elijah around 12:45. We head out to McKinney where I do two quick mystery shops(that I had planned for later, but since I was off, why not?) and then we go to the psychiatrist, where they inform me that our appointment is not until 4:15. What the heck! NO way....I remember having to make it for 2:15 so we could see the doctor, not the nurse practicioner. They were nice, but ugh, we would have to wait. Well, I had some shops that I could do instead of waiting for the weekend, so Elijah and I went and did the shops and grabbed an ice cream while we were out. I took a few phone calls from work and THEN we arrived back at 4:05 PM to wait until 4:30 to see the nurse practicioner.

All goes well with her and we don't change any meds. I stop on the way home for yet another mystery shop to get dinner which I bring home! I had planned this shop ahead of time, but it wasn't too far from home.

It was a LONG day and I am sure I'll be JUST a little tired tonight. Jacob is back asleep after eating some chicken noodle soup and I am hoping he makes it back to school tomorrow and NO ONE else gets sick.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Puke, Meds and other stuff!

My mom came into town yesterday to see all of us. She came by the house for a while and I helped her file her taxes online! She then took the boys and I out to dinner with my brother and his family. We had a very nice dinner. Elijah didn't want to eat much of his dinner though, but did want dessert. My mom went ahead and got something for him, which I shared with him.

All seemed fine when we left, but when we got in the car I hear, "I just puked" from Elijah in the backseat. As I looked back and noticed the puke on his shirt, he puked again. I yelled for him to get out of the car and he did and puked once again. Oh my! I took his shirt off and cleaned him and the car up as best I could. I then drove us home. I now had the debate of whether or not to give him his meds. He came home and sat on the toilet for a bit and thankfully had a BM. I am assuming at this point that he was just stopped up. I gave him a bit of water and waited. He held that down so around 7:30 I gave him his medication.

I put him to bed around 9:00 and he seemed OK. Well then he yelled for me around 10:00 and said he had to go to the bathroom. Halfway there he said he had to puke so I pushed him along faster. Now, remember, he just got out of bed so NO ears....meaning NO hearing. He makes it to the toilet and OH my did he puke. He said he was done and came over towards the sink for me to wash his face and OH MY he projectile pukes ALL over the sink. I moved him back to the toilet where he continues to puke while I clean up the sink area. OH MY was it a lot and was it ever gross. He finally seems all done and says he feels better. I gesture out to him that the Easter bunny is coming and to NOT eat any candy in the morning. He seems to understand and I put him back to bed. I signed to him to wake me up if he felt bad in the night.

I woke up this morning to find him asleep on the den floor. Thankfully, there were no candy wrappers on the floor around him. He and Jacob looked for eggs in the den and then Elijah tried to eat some chocolate. I got to him in time! He ate two pieces of toast for lunch. NOW the dilemma again....do I give him his meds? He has had so little to eat and I hate for those meds to just SIT in his stomach and make things worse. I waited an hour and he kept down the toast. I decided to give him his zoloft and singulair, but to hold off on his other meds. He went with me to run some errands around 10:00 and fell asleep for a while. It is now 12:10 and he hasn't puked again! He had a little bit of sprite to drink, two small sips and so far so good.

I am hoping this was just an issue of him being stopped up and not a virus! I have a roast cooking for dinner later and am planning on just having a laid back day today. I really don't want to have to clean up more puke!

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Look at My Two Boys!




Look at these two boys. I can't believe how much they have grown. Jacob is 5 feet 8 inches tall and 177 pounds! He is the size of a man! I also think he is so handsome in his uniform. I picked him up from school yesterday early for a doctor's appointment. I forgot he would be in his uniform. He exited the school and started walking towards the car. I wondered WHO was this young man and then realized it was JACOB! Where did this young man come from and where did my little boy go? It is like he just grew up over night! He has matured into a great young man and he is slowly leaving childhood behind. I couldn't be more proud of him!

Elijah still has some growing to do, but he is getting there. This is one of his better pictures! He is doing fairly well in school and it is always a roller coaster ride with him. Thankfully the ride has slowed down a bit for us. Elijah was 4 pounds 9 ounces when he was born, so he has definitely grown since then! I am sure we will have some twists and turns in the future, but we will get through it!